American Girl
by Kadabi
Summary: "Were you playing with my dolls?" Ichigo x Renji


Pairing: Ichigo x Renji

Rating: R

Summary: 94. "Were you playing with my dolls?"

**American Girl**

He couldn't believe he was doing this. His specialty was hollows. Well, it was _now _at least. He preferred violence to emotions. He could handle a sword and gore better than a grieving family. At least…now he could. It was hard for him to believe at one point he had helped protect lost souls, and now he had done everything he could to avoid interacting with them.

Yet, here he was digging through Yuzu's toy chest like a creep.

"Were you playing with my dolls?"

He froze. He could feel the color rising to his face, cheeks tingly and salvia pooling in his mouth as his eyes darted to the window. It was possible he could throw himself out the window. That was better than explaining himself to his baby sister.

"Ichigo…?"

"Ah. Yuzu. I, uh. I didn't see you there," hesitantly he turned around, with a face he was sure that matched a strawberry.

He was going to _kill _Urahara. This was the last time he fell into one of Urahara's schemes. How that hat and clogs creep found out any blackmail on Ichigo was beyond him, but from now on he was going to be all over that fool's business.

His tongue snaked out to wet his lips, "I, uh, I wasn't _playing _with your dolls – "

"Ahahahaha!"

He knew that laugh, and in an instant his shame was replaced by anger.

"What the hell are you laughing at Abarai?!"

"Ichigo Kurosaki playing with his little sister's _dolls_," Renji laughed a deep belly laugh, grasping the wall for support.

Ichigo was going to _murder _Urahara.

"Shut yer face Abarai. I'm on an assignment for Urahara. I was not _playing _with dolls you asshole, so stop telling everyone! You're worse than a damn middle schooler," Ichigo grabbed at the phone in Renji's hands, throwing the tiny piece of plastic across the room.

"Fine, fine. Whatever ya say, so what exactly is this 'assignment' that Urahara has you on? I wasn't aware that you were on such a good level with him."

"I'm not. This is more…a favor. I don't have time for R&R like you guys do. Have you ever heard of a creature called the Soul Piper?"

Renji raised a brow, "Soul Piper? Are you sure Urahara just isn't screwing with you?"

"Of course I thought he was. I've never heard of it, and I sure as hell couldn't find anyone that had. I was going to write it off and go on vacation with my family but I couldn't get that lucky. The Soul Piper deals with the souls of children, supposedly he leads them to the afterworld by playing his flute. He will stay with the child until the child is ready to move on, or the child is dragged to the underworld."

He saw Renji crack a smile, "Dammit Abarai! I'm not joking!"

"Children go to the underworld? C'mon now Ichigo. Why would a child go to the underworld?"

"Fuck if I know! All I know is that after I bitched and moaned for information on what I'm supposed to be doing, old man hat and clogs fessed up that bit of information. I was _looking _through Yuzu's dolls to find something to draw out this little girl. Urahara asked me to help this little girl pass on."

"So why not just whack her with your sword?"

If Ichigo could've hit him without causing a scene, he would've leapt across the room and beat Renji's head against the floor. He wasn't a moron; he knew how stupid he sounded. A child going to the underworld? When Ichigo thought of a kid, he didn't think of a kid being evil.

This Soul Piper though, from what Urahara had told him, could be bad news. He still hadn't forgotten the first time he had saw the underworld. It gave him chills to think of it. He couldn't bring himself to imagine those chains wrapping around the arms of a child, and the terror they must feel being drug through those doors.

"Hello, Kurosaki? Well. Whatever. It's your mission, if Urahara is dicking you around, it ain't any of my business. Rukia had me come check on you because you hadn't been hangin' around. I did my civic duty."

With a wave of his hand, Renji made his way out Ichigo's door. Their exchange had taken all of fifteen minutes, and it left Ichigo feeling drained. Even with that information he had given Renji, he wasn't any closer to finding this Soul Piper, or this soul.

Urahara told him he was on limited time. Once the Soul Piper's eyes opened, the Underworld was opened along with it. He still didn't know why he had to take on this mission when from the way things seemed Urahara knew exactly where both were hiding. That was three days ago. Even if he hadn't found either of his targets, Ichigo couldn't help the creeping feeling that his time had run out.

***

The darkness was suffocating. His body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, his top sticking and twisting uncomfortably on his torso. His sheet was bunched in a ball at the end of his bed, leaving his body open to the cool air in his room.

He had left his window open.

He never left his window open.

Was that why he was awake?

No. He was dreaming. But what was he dreaming about? His heart thumped painfully in his chest, the last dredges of a nightmare clawing at the edge of his consciousness. He had no idea what his dream had been about, but he felt like he had run a marathon. He couldn't catch his breath, and he pushed damp bangs out of his eyes.

There.

That's what had awoken him. That spike in spirit energy just outside of town. He could feel it even from here.

"Shit. Kon!"

Before the stuffed lion could even protest, Ichigo had shoved his fist down his throat, dragging the pea sized globe out of his stuffing.

***

The night air was frozen; it felt like icicles tearing down his throat with each breath, the air thick with energy. It seemed to drag him down, unseen tendrils wrapping around his arms and legs, pulling him backwards. He had never felt energy that was so devoid of anything. There was no malice, no evilness in this energy. It just was.

There was no denying this energy was incredible. It felt like the air was being sucked out of the area to supply the vortex in the middle of the playground.

A playground. Of course, it so was so stupidly obvious.

In the middle of the playground there looked to be a yellow floating ball of…gum with a tail. Goose flesh rose along his arms, the eyes of what he assumed to be the Soul Piper were opened wide, tiny yellow arms holding a flute to his mouth.

The Soul Piper was about the size of a basketball. So why did it elicit such fear within him? There were no pupils in its red eyes; they were flat crimson, seemingly blind. The Soul Piper seemed to be staring at nothing, but the closer Ichigo got to the playground the form of a trembling child took shape.

Urahara said the Soul Piper took the child to the place of their death when its eyes opened, wrapping their body in chains and dragging them to the underworld. So, that explained the vortex part.

"No! I'm sorry!"

He willed his feet to go faster, there was no emotion behind the Soul Piper's eyes, no reason, if anything the Soul Piper was perfect at its job.

He saw the child's hands wrapped around the monkey bars, fingers entwined around one another for a better grip.

"I-I'm sorry," a hiccupping sob, "I'll be good! I promise! I-I'm not bad! I wasn't trying to be mean!" Ichigo saw his hands slip, "I just didn't want them to forget! Mommy was forgetting! It wasn't fair," he was almost there, "I didn't want to die, I didn't want to go away. I wanted to s-stay; I just wanted to watch them!"

Urahara had said the Soul Piper was judge, jury and executioner. Its world was black and white. Good and bad. If a child stayed too long in the living world, and would not pass on the Soul Piper deemed the child bad and handled the situation accordingly.

Ichigo felt his stomach drop as he watched the double doors appear out of the vortex, gravel crunching beneath his feet, he threw himself the rest of the way, his body blocking that of the cowering child. The child's hands had slipped, a metal chain snaked around his tiny wrist.

He hadn't had time to draw his sword; there hadn't been enough time for anything. His hands seemed too large, they fumbled with the chain, the skin of his fingertips popped and sizzled with the heat of the metal.

"Ack, dammit! Hold on, just…just _hold on._"

He felt the heat of a chain fly past his head, and he shoved the child to the ground, throwing his body over the prone form. He could hear the chain swing around and connect with his shoulder, and wrap around the length of his arm.

He bit back a scream; naked skin sizzled on contact with the metal. It felt like his flesh was melting off underneath the chain, and the stench of burnt cloth tickled his nose.

It wasn't long before another chain latched onto his leg, yanking it out from underneath him. With his good arm, he balanced himself above the child, falling hard onto his elbow. He could hear the creak of the double doors opening, the stench of gagging him.

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he had truly been afraid. Heart pounding, blood rushing in your ears, can't catch your breath afraid.

Killing a soul reaper was hard. He knew that, but he could venture throwing one through the doors of the Underworld would all but do the job wonderfully. The thought terrified him. It seemed he was wrong when he told Rukia he wasn't so noble as to die for a stranger.

There was nothing to hold onto, and the chain attached to the child hadn't loosened. If he lifted his arm, he would lose his balance and surely be dragged back to the double doors with no issue.

"I'm so sorry mister."

If he hadn't already been angry, the child's sniveling evoked his ire. Why wouldn't the little brat just move on? Why was he so attached to this world?

"I…I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with mommy. Even…even if I could only watch her, she was so sad. I didn't want her to be sad. It was my fault. All my fault. It was always my fault. It was just my mommy and me. She tried so hard for us. When…when I died, the last thing I told my mommy was that I hated her. She wouldn't let me go play, the weather was too bad. I hated her for it."

Ichigo wasn't looking into the eyes of a child anymore. It was no wonder why his spirit longed for this world. He couldn't imagine the burden of never being able to apologize.

His foot slipped, and he face scrapped along the gravel as the chains began dragging him towards the Underworld.

"_Shit._"

A chain snapped around his throat, pulling him onto his back, and he clawed uselessly at the ground. With his free hand he finally pulled his sword, and rolled to his side neatly slicing the chain in half. Grabbing the chain around his neck, the skin on his fingers popped and sizzled, and he grunted in pain as he pulled the chain free from his neck.

He scrambled to his feet and once again grasped for the child, that tiny hand that still was encased in chains. Everything smelled like burnt flesh and decaying bodies, he could taste it on his tongue and it felt like the hairs in his nose were being burned up by the scent alone.

They were so close to the double doors now. He didn't dare look inside. He could hear the whispers in his mind, evil voices that whispered to him to release that tiny hand, it was too late now, what was one soul lost?

This was Urahara's fault. Not his. Urahara knew all of this, and kept it to himself. If he had told Ichigo, he would've been able to save the child. Yes. Urahara was to blame, so why not just let go?

"_Shut up, shut up!_"

Snarling to silence the voices, Ichigo jerked upright, pulling the child towards him in a cloud of dust. Making an even stroke, he struck upwards and sliced the last chain binding them to the double doors. The heat from the Underworld singed the ends of his hair. He was at the edge. He could reach out and touch the doors, shut them himself if he really wanted to. He couldn't look down.

The child was trembling in his arms. The Soul Piper's eyes had closed. It had turned to face him, flute ever present at its mouth, still no malice, no evil. Just there. The doors began to creak close, and Ichigo leapt backwards, giving himself what he felt was a safe distance.

The child's hands were twisted in his kimono, tiny fists balled up in the black fabric. He could feel the tiny body trembling, all traces of the wisdom from earlier gone.

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he had been so afraid.

***

The door to his bedroom shut with a soft "click" and he flinched in the darkness. He hurt everywhere. The smell of decaying flesh seemed permanently engrained into his nose. He could taste it on the back of his tongue, thick and oily like pollutants.

The Soul Piper took the child. He couldn't stop that. Urahara had told him that if he succeeded, the Soul Piper would still take the child.

The injured flesh burned and throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and he knew he didn't have long to bind the wounds. They wouldn't heal like an injury from a hollow or soul reaper; he didn't need hat and clogs to tell him that. He could feel it when the metal cinched around his skin for the first time, this was a kind of wound he had never dealt with before.

He leaned back against the door, head thumping against the solid wood. His knees gave, and he slid silently to the floor. He was shaking, his body racked with silent sobs. The boy had tightened his tiny fists around Ichigo's wrists and smiled with tears in his eyes, telling Ichigo it would be okay, he was ready now.  
How pathetic was he that a child had to console him?

"Oi."

He didn't need to look up to see the face. Renji was the last person that Ichigo wanted to see right now.

"Urahara told us someone should meet you. Rukia vied for the position, but I doubt her constant questions and awkward attempts at making you feel better would do more harm than good."

"Heh," a sad smile twisted the corner of his lips. He knew Renji was doing him a favor. Rukia tried too hard, she meant well but she just didn't understand that sometimes silence was better.

He just couldn't find it in him to feel appreciative right now, "Urahara really is a bastard sometimes."

Renji just nodded. He kept his gaze level with Ichigo's blank stare. He had an idea of what Urahara had asked him to do, after their little run in he had tracked down the shop owner and all but beat it out of him just what the Soul Piper was.

Sometimes, Renji forgot that Ichigo was still just a kid and staring at him now, laying broken against the door he couldn't imagine just why exactly it was so easy to forget. Ichigo was forever the hard ass, hiding behind sarcasm and anger rather than being up front about his emotions.

They were all guilty of that from time to time.

Ichigo drew his knees against his chest, stretched his arm out and laid his head down. He was too tired to move, too tired to crawl to the bed. Renji was occupying most of it anyway.

"I can't imagine…I can't imagine what it must be like for a child to die. It is sad when anyone dies…but for a child? Most children don't even really understand what death is. And to die…to die and not be ready to leave this world, to want to cling to your mother for as long as possible is understandable. But to be deemed evil just because you aren't ready? How can anyone have that right?"

Ichigo closed his eyes and Renji didn't press, "I haven't felt afraid in a long time, but when those chains wrapped around my arms and I felt the flesh melt away I thought this was it. I never want to experience being dragged towards those doors, having to look down into the Underworld again. Fully knowing what awaits you as you are dragged there is terrifying, but to know that because I wasn't strong enough a child was going through the same thing I was? Those things in the Underworld, they were _reaching _towards us. Empty faceless beings, gaping fanged creatures reaching up out of the depths to meet us, ready for us. I've never seen something so excited because I was failing."

This time, Renji closed his eyes, "Urahara really fucked you up on this one didn't he."

Ichigo didn't lift his head when he felt Renji move to stand in front of him, his head still resting on his numb arm.

Renji crouched down, and Ichigo didn't turn his head to meet him. He hadn't expected him to; whatever was going through the strawberry's head was consuming him. He really was his own worst enemy, he spent more time thinking of all the wrong he did more than the good.

Renji reached out and grabbed his arms, yanking him to his feet, "You can be depressed all ya want to tomorrow, right now," He chose to ignore the trembling limbs, "You need to call Rukia or she is going to show up."

None too gently he shoved Ichigo in the direction of his desk; the tiny silver phone lay on top of his school books.

Renji had taken up residence on Ichigo's bed, arms resting behind his head he listened to the monotone drone of Ichigo's voice as he reassured Rukia four times he was fine, and he would talk to her tomorrow about what had happened.

His eyes slipped shut, and his mind went fuzzy. He figured he must've fallen asleep because when he awoke next it was with the solid weight of Ichigo above him.

"Just what are…?"

Ichigo shook his head, and Renji quieted.

With trembling fingers Ichigo pulled at Renji's haori, parting the fabric to reveal the tattooed chest. He splayed his hands across the firm expanse of Renji's chest, scraping chipped nails along the smooth skin. Gooseflesh rose along the path Ichigo's hands took, and Renji groaned as Ichigo's finger grazed over his nipple.

Ichigo's tongue flicked across his lips at the husky tone of Renji's voice, and he felt the blood rush through his veins. How long had it been since he had been this close to another person?

Renji met him halfway, leaning up on his elbow, his free arm catching the back of Ichigo's neck and dragging him the rest of the way down, letting the soul reaper tangle his fingers in that silky smooth fiery hair.

Ichigo easily relinquished control, when Renji's tongue swept across the seam of his lips he didn't fight it, and he groaned without abandon linking his arms behind the older man's neck. Ichigo had never been with a male before, there were no soft edges, no dips and curves, just hard muscle and calloused skin.

He relished this feeling, knowing that he could press and nip and bite as hard as he wanted without being afraid of causing damage.

He loved the feel of Renji beneath him, the feeling of muscle sliding under skin as Renji's body twisted and turned, feeling those muscles bunch under his thighs had Ichigo pressing uncomfortably at the bulge in his jeans.

Renji smiled into the kiss, catching Ichigo's bottom lip between his teeth and tugged harshly at Ichigo's hair. Ichigo grunted in irritation and Renji took the opportunity to flip him onto his back. Renji had more meat on him than Ichigo, and he shivered deliciously at the feeling of the smaller male beneath him. He thrived on the control, and maybe in another time, another place Renji would have more opportunities to expand on that, but tonight was about Ichigo.

Ichigo was already bare chested and Renji could feel the extent of Ichigo's excitement against his thigh. Kissing an opened mouth trail down Ichigo's chest, Renji took a moment to lave attention on Ichigo's nipples. Ichigo panted heavily, and twisted his hands in the sheets his hips rolling against Renji's toned stomach.

"R-Renji, no teasing…! Please."

Rolling the hardened nipple between his fingers, Renji mock pouted at Ichigo for cutting his fun short but he understood the need for the rush. Picking up where he left off, Renji dipped his tongue in tanned navel tearing a breathless laugh from Ichigo, and a harsh tug on his bangs for veering from the path.

Peeking up through his bangs Renji slowly licked his lips, making sure that Ichigo was watching him undo the button to his jeans and peel back the fabric from his hips. A growl rumbled deep in his throat as Ichigo's mouth dropped open, hands coming to tangle in Renji's long tresses.

Ever so slowly, Renji rolled back Ichigo's boxers and freed Ichigo's impressive length. Renji felt his own need throb in response to the heat he held in his hand. Ichigo's eyes never left Renji, the soul reaper could feel the heated gaze on him as he lowered his head and licked Ichigo from root to tip.

"Ah," the breathless groan elicited a twin response from Renji, who palmed the bulge at the front of his pants to release some pressure, "Renji…"

Taking the tip between his lips, Renji licked at the underside of Ichigo's length, wrapping his hand around what his mouth did not cover. Ichigo bucked into his mouth, and Renji relaxed his mouth allowing the heated length to slip past his lips.

Using his free hand Renji cradled Ichigo's balls, rolling them in the palm of his hand, Renji sucked hard on the length in his mouth. He hummed around the thickness, throat vibrating and that was all it took for Ichigo to gasp wordlessly, and his hand to seize at Renji's hair.

Effortlessly Renji swallowed Ichigo's seed, and licking his lips he grinned up at Ichigo. The teen was laying bonelessly on the bed, one arm thrown over his eyes to calm his rapidly reddening face. Renji could see the gears turning in his head already, and he could see the embarrassment all over his face to the tips of his ears.

Clearing his throat, without removing his arms from his face Ichigo offered a gruff, "thanks" before trying to roll back over in bed. It was all it took for Ichigo to try and roll over for Renji to shove him off the side of the bed, and take Ichigo's place.

"Oi! Abarai! You asshole!"

It may not have been perfect, but it was what Ichigo had needed. He was no longer shaking, he no longer smelled the burnt flesh, and no longer felt those chains tightening around his wrists.

Renji swung his feet off the bed, grabbing Ichigo's wrist above where the chain had snagged him, "C'mon. The last thing you need is some sort of infection."

Tomorrow he would ask Urahara the child's name.

A/N: Phew. Even that little bit of action was hard to write. Who knew a hardly there blow job scene would be hard to describe.


End file.
